A growing shortage of donor organs has heightened interest in developing novel strategies for tissue regeneration, including the possible role of stem cells, as an alternative to heterologous organ replacement in patients with renal failure. We have discovered that a unique population of pluripotential cells exist in amniotic fluid that have similar totipotent properties as more traditional lines of embryonic stem cells but avoid embryo destruction during retrieval, which is desirable. We would like to apply these amniotic fluid derived stem cells for the regeneration of kidney tissue in the laboratory. Tissue Engineering and Developmental Biology have uniquely contributed compelling but preliminary data towards a common goal of bioengineering kidneys. Therefore, the broad objective of this proposal is to determine if amniotic fluid derived stem cells are capable of forming kidney tissue in a novel co-culture system that employs, for the first time, technologies from both Tissue Engineering and Developemental Biology. This project also seeks to optimize the scalability of these bioengineered kidneys so that they can be applied in vivo.